The horizontal line represents the person’s life.1545 - born1596 - died

Drake, SirFrancis

, one of our most distinguished
naval heroes, who flourished in the reign of Elizabeth, was
the son of Edmund Drake, a sailor, and born near Tavistock, in Devonshire, in 1545, but some have said that
he was the son of a clergyman. He was, however, brought
up at the expence, and under the care, of sir John Hawkins, who was his kinsman; and at the age of eighteen
was purser of a ship trading to Biscay. At twenty he
made a voyage to Guinea; and at twenty-two had the
honour to be made captain of the Judith. In that capacity
he was in the harbour of St. John de Ulloa, in the gulph
of Mexico, where he behaved most gallantly in the glorious actions under sir John Hawkins, and returned with
him to England with great reputation, though as poor as
he set out. Upon this he projected a design against the
Spaniards in the West Indies, which he no sooner announced, than he had volunteers enough ready to
|
accorapany him. In 1570 he made his first expedition with two
ships; and the next year with one only, in which he returned safe, if not with such advantages as he expected.
He made another expedition in 1572, did the Spaniards
some mischief, and gained considerable booties. In these
expeditions he was much assisted by a nation of Indians,
who then were, and have been ever since, engaged in
perpetual wars with the Spaniards. The prince of these
people was named Pedro, to whom Drake presented a fine
cutlass from his side, which he saw the Indian greatly admired. Pedro, in return, gave him four large wedges of
gold, which Drake threw into the common stock, with
this remarkable expression, that“he thought it but just,
that such as bore the charge of so uncertain a voyage on
his credit, should share the utmost advantages that voyage
produced.” Then embarking his men with all the wealth
he had obtained, which was very considerable, he bore
away for England, where he arrived in August, 1573.

His success in this expedition, joined to his honourable
behaviour towards his owners, gained him high reputation,
which was increased by the use he made of his riches. For,
fitting out three stout frigates at his own expence, he sailed
with them into Ireland, where, under Walter earl of Essex,
the father of the famous unfortunate earl, he served as a
volunteer, and performed many gallant exploits. After
the death of his noble patron, he returned into England;
where sir Christopher Hatton, vice-chamberlain to queen
Elizabeth, and privy-counsellor, introduced him to her
majesty, and procured him countenance and protection at
court. By this means he acquired a capacity of undertaking that grand expedition, which will render his name
immortal. The first thing he proposed was a voyage into
the South-seas, through the Straits of Magellan, which
hitherto no Englishman had ever attempted. The project
was well received at court; the queen furnished him with
means; and his own fame quickly drew together a force
sufficient. The fleet with which he sailed on this extraordinary undertaking, consisted only of five small vessels,
compared with modern ships, and no more than 164 able
men. He sailed from England, Dec. 13, 1577; on the
25th fell in with the coast of Barbary, and on the 29th
with Cape Verd. March 13, he passed the equinoctial,
made the coast of BrazilApril 5, 1578, and entered the
river de la Plata, where he lost the company of two of his
| ships; but meeting them again, and taking out their provisions, he turned them adrift. May 29, he entered the
port of St. Julian, where he continued two months, for the
sake of laying in provisions; Aug. 20> he entered the
Straits of Magellan; and Sept. 25 passed them, having
then only his own ship. Nov. 25, he came to Machao,
which he had appointed for a place of rendezvous, in case
his ships separated: but captain Winter, his vice-admiral,
having repassed the Straits, was returned to England.
Thence he continued his voyage along the coasts of Chili
and Peru, taking all opportunities of seizing Spanish ships,
and attacking them on shore, till his crew were sated with
plunder; and then coasting North-America to the height
of 48 degrees, he endeavoured, but in vain, to find a passage back into our seas on that side. He landed, however,
and called the country New Albion, taking possession of
it in the name and for the use of queen Elizabeth; and,
having careened his ship, set sail from thence Sept. 29,
1579, for the Moluccas. He is supposed to have chosen
this passage round, partly to avoid being attacked by the
Spaniards at a disadvantage, and partly from the lateness
of the season, when dangerous storms and hurricanes were
to be apprehended. Oct. 13, he fell in with certain
islands, inhabited by the most barbarous people he had
met with in all his voyage; and, Nov. 4, he had sight of
the Moluccas, and, coming to Ternate, was extremely
well received by the king thereof, who appears, from the
most authentic relations of this voyage, to have been a
wise and polite prince. Dec. 10, he made Celebes, where
his ship unfortunately ran upon a rock Jan. 9th following;
from which, beyond all expectation, and in a manner miraculously, they got off, and continued their course.
March 16, he arrived at Java Major, and from thence intended to have directed his course to Malacca; but founrf
himself obliged to alter his purpose, and to think of returning home. March 25, 1580, he put this design in
execution; and June 15, doubled the cape of Good Hope,
having then on board 57 men, and but three casks of
water. July 12, he passed the Line, reached the coast of
Guinea the 16th, and there watered. Sept. 11, he made
the island of Tercera; and Nov. 3, entered the harbour
of Plymouth. This voyage round the globe was performed
in two years and about ten months.
| His success in this voyage, and the immense mass of
wealth he brought home, raised much discourse throughout the kingdom; some highly commending-, and some as
loudly decrying him. The former alleged, that his exploit
>vas not only honourable to himself, but to his country
that it would establish our reputation for maritime skill in
foreign nations, and raise an useful spirit of emulation at
home; and that, as to the money, our merchants having
suffered much from the faithless practices of the Spaniards,
there was nothing more just, than that the nation should
receive the benefit of Drake’s reprisals. The other party
alleged, that in fact he was no better than a pirate; that,
of all others, it least became a trading nation to encourage
such practices; that it was not only a direct breach of all
our late treaties with Spain, but likewise of our old leagues
with the house of Burgundy; and that the consequences
would be much more fatal than the benefits reaped from it
could be advantageous. This difference of opinion continued during the remainder of 1580, and the spring of
the succeeding year; but at length justice was done to
Drake’s services; for, April 4, 1581, her majesty, going
to Deptford, went on board his ship; where, after dinner,
she conferred on him the honour of knighthood, and declared her absolute approbation of all he had done. She
likewise gave directions for the preservation of his ship,
that it might remain a monument of his own and his country’s glory. Camden, in his Britannia, has taken notice
of an extraordinary circumstance relating to this ship of
Drake’s, where, speaking of the shire of Buchan, in Scotland, he says, “It is hardly worth while to mention the
clayks, a sort of geese, which are believed by some with
great admiration, to grow upon trees on this coast, and in
other places, and when they are ripe, they fall down into
the sea, because neither their nests nor eggs can any where
be found. But they who saw the ship in which sir Francis
Drake sailed round the world, when it was laid up in the
river Thames, could testify that little birds breed in the
old rotten keels of ships, since a great number of such,
without life and feathers, stuck close to the outside of the
keel of that ship.” This celebrated ship, which had been
contemplated many years at Deptford, at length decaying,
it was broke p; and a chair made out of the planks was
presented to the* university of Oxford.
| In 1585 he sailed with a fleet to the West Indies, and
took the cities of St. Jago, St. Domingo, Carthagena, and
St. Augustin. In 1587 he went to Lisbon with a fleet of
30 sail; and, having intelligence of a great fleet assembled
in the bay of Cadiz, which was to have made part of the
armada, he with great courage entered that port, and burnt
there upwards of 10,000 tons of shipping: which he afterwards merrily called, “burning the king of Spain’s beard.”
In 1558, when the armada from Spain was approaching
our coasts, he was appointed vice-admiral under Charles
lord Howard of Efringham, high-admiral of England,
where fortune favoured him as remarkably as ever: for he
made prize of a very large galleon, commanded by don
Pedro de Valdez, who was reputed the projector of this
invasion. This affair happened in the following manner
July 22, sir Francis, observing a great Spanish ship floating at a distance from both fleets, sent his pinnace to summon the commander to yield. Valdez replied, with much
Spanish solemnity, that they were 450 strong, that he
himself was don Pedro, and stood much upon his honour,
and propounded several conditions, upon which he was
willing to yield: but the vice-admiral replied, that he had
no leisure to parley, but if he thought fit instantly to yield
he might; if not, he should soon find that Drake was no
coward. Pedro, hearing the name of Drake, immediately
yielded, and with 46 of his attendants came aboard Drake’s
ship. This don Pedro remained above two years his prisoner in England; and, when he was released, paid him.
for his own and his captain’s liberties, a ransom of 3500l.
Drake’s soldiers were well recompensed with the plunder
of this ship: for they found in it 55,000 ducats of gold,
which was divided among them.

In the mean time it must not be dissembled, concerning
the expedition in general, that, through an oversight of
Drake, the admiral ran the utmost hazard of being taken
by the enemy. For Drake being appointed, the first night
of the engagement, to carry lights for the direction of the
English fleet, was led to pursue some hulks belonging to
the Hansetowns, and so neglected this orh’ce; which occasioned the admiral’s following the Spanish lights, and remaining almost in the centre of their fleet till morning.
However, his succeeding services sufficiently atoned for
this mistake, the greatest execution done on the flying
Spaniards being performed by the squadron under his
|
command. It is remarkable, that the Spaniards, notwithstanding their loss was so great, and their defeat so notorious,
took great pains to propagate false stories, which in some
places gained so much credit as to hide their shame. A
little before this formidable Spanish armament put to sea,
the ambassador of his catholic majesty had the confidence
to propound to queen Elizabeth, in Latin verse, the terms
iipon which she might hope for peace; which, with an
English translation of a very homely kind, by Dr. Fuller,
we will insert in this place, because Drake’s expedition to
the West Indies makes a part of this message. The verses
are these:

“These to you are our commands,
Send no help to th' Netherlands
Of the treasure took by Drake,
Restitution you must make:
And those abbies build anew,
Which your father overthrew:
If for any peace you hope,
In all points restore the pope.”

The queen’s extempore return:

“Ad Graecas, bone rex, fient rnandata calendas.”

“Worthy king, know, this your will
At latter-lammas we’ll fulfil.”

In 1589 he commanded as admiral of the fleet sent to
restore don Antonio, king of Portugal, the command of
the land-forces being given to sir John Norris: but they
were hardly got to sea, before the commanders differed,
and the attempt proved abortive. The war with Spain
continuing, a more effectual expedition was undertaken
by sir John Hawkins and Drake, against their settlements
in the West Indies, than had hitherto been made duriug
the whole course of it: but the commanders here again
not agreeing about the plan, this also did not turn out so
successful as was expected. All diiriculties, before these
two last expeditions, had given way to the skill and fortune of Drake; which probably was the reason why he did
not bear these disappointments so well as he otherwise
would have done. A strong sense of them is supposed to
have thrown him into a melancholy, which occasioned a
| bloody-flux; and of this he died on board his own ship,
near the town of Noinbre de Dios in the West Indies, Jan.
28, 1596. His death was lamented by the* whole nation,
and particularly by his countrymen, who had great reason
to love him from the circumstances of his private life, as
well as to esteem him in his public character. He was’
elected burgess for Bossiney, alias Tintagal, in Cornwall,
in the 27th parliament of Elizabeth; and for Plymouth in.
Devonshire, in the 35th. This town had very particular
obligations to him; for in 1587 he undertook to bring water into it, through the want of which, till then, it had
been grievously distressed: and he performed it by conducting thither a stream from springs at eight miles distance, in a straight line: but in the manner he brought it,
the course of it runs upwards of twenty miles.

Sir Francis Drake was low of stature, but well formed,
had a broad open chest, a very round head, his hair of a
line brown, his beard full and comely, his eyes large and
clear, of a fair complexion, with a fresh, cheerful, and
very engaging countenance. As navigation had been his
whole study, so he understood it thoroughly, and was a
perfect master in every branch, especially in astronomy,
and in the application of it to the art of sailing. He had
the happiness to live under the reign of a princess, who
never failed to distinguish merit, and to reward it. He
was always her favourite; and she gave an uncommon
proof of it, in regard to a quarrel he had with his countryman sir Bernard Drake, whose arms sir Francis assuming,
the other was so provoked at it, that he gave him a box on
the ear. Upon this, the queen took up the quarrel, and
gave sir Francis a new coat, which is thus emblazoned
“Sable, a fess wavy between two pole stars Argent,” and
for his crest, “a. ship on a globe under ruff,” held by a
cable, with a hand out of the clouds, over it this motto,
“auxilio divino” underneath, “sic parvis nriagna” in the
rigging of which is hung up by the heels a wivern Gules
which was the arms of sir Bernard Drake. Her majesty’s
kindness, however, did not extend beyond the grave; for
she suffered his brother Thomas Drake, whom he made
his heir, to be prosecuted for a pretended debt to the
crown; which prosecution hurt him a good deal. It is
indeed true, that sir Francis died without issue, but not
a bachelor, as some authors have written; for ije left behind him a widow, Elizabeth, daughter and sole heiress of
| sir GeorgeSydenham, in the county of Devon, knt. who
afterwards was married to William Courtenay, esq. of Powderham castle in the same county, the ancestor of the
noble family of Courtenay. 1

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